Chesapeake Shipbuilding Corp., Salisbury, Md., has signed another contract with Vane Brothers to build three more oceangoing tugs. This new contract marks the 15th, 16th and 17th tugboats for Batimore-based Vane Brothers from Chesapeake since 2008. Construction on the first new tug has already begun at Chesapeake.

The design of these three new tugboats will be nearly identical to previous tugs built for Vane, including the recently delivered Fort Schuyler. Each will be equipped with twin Caterpillar 3512 main engines producing a combined 3,000 hp, and a single drum hydraulic winch from JonRie. The tugs will measure 94’x32’x13’.